Brendan Canty has created a gripping, harrowing drama, about two gay men targeted by a homophobic gang, for Hozier's passionate Take Me To The Church.

It's set in the Irish countryside, and shots in the video of gay Russians demonstrating against Putin's homophobic legislation on TV underline the political as well as personal dimension of the story. This is a world where anti-gay thugs can act with impunity – and that leads to a terrifying situation for one of the men. Which in turn is a chilling experience for the viewer.

Brendan Canty: "As Take Me to Church is such a powerful and thought-provoking song we felt the video needed to be the same. We wanted to create something that challenged the audience and made them sit up and really think.

"The song is about sexuality, humanity and liberation, so after many discussions between us and Andrew we came up with a concept drawing on these themes and on the current situation in Russia - i.e the widespread ostracization of homosexuals and the widespread condoning of their torture and murder. It was a real challenge for us and with a story as big as this, and a subject so topical we had to get it 100% spot on. 

"The casting was crucial and our two leads (Daniel Coughlan and Emmet O'Riabhaigh) and the main thug (Patrick Sheahan) gave phenomenal performances in this video. With the help of them, the rest of the amazing cast and crew, Roger and Niall at Rubyworks and Andrew I feel we nailed it."